I open the note as we leave. It isn't long, but it is life-altering.
Dear Ari,
If you're reading this, then you remember seeing me. That in itself is something. It means you're growing in your powers.
I have so much to apologize for, but I fear I haven't the time. I know what Inferna and Avakiri are going through. I know what has become of you all.
I wish I could have been the father you needed. The father you deserved.
But I faced a different fate.
In punishment for my rebellion, I was cursed to be a guardian of power. A gift and a curse some might say.
I was banished to another realm, turned to stone to guard a powerful magic.
I was allowed one grace: that I could, once every circling of the moon, take on my human form and return to earth. It is there I met your mother. There we fell in love and conceived you. There I had to let you go. To protect you. To protect her. To fulfill my duty, my curse, my fate.
I sense our fates will cross again. And this time, I will be ready to give you what you need.
My love is with you always.
Your father
I drop the paper and it flutters to the linoleum hospital floor as I stand in shock. I still have my swords strapped to my back, and I pull out Lux and stare at the moonlight sword in awe and grief.
The nurse sucks in her breath. "Is that real? Weapons aren't…"
Ace comes to my rescue. "We are attending a… how do you say… play of some kind. Forgive us our unusual appearance."
He picks up the paper I dropped and looks at it, then looks at me with an odd expression. "We must be going, don't you think? Wouldn't want to be late to the… play."
I nod, my eyes still unfocused, my heart still beating too loudly against my rib cage. I hear the whoosh of blood in my ears and fight down bile rising in my throat.
When we walk into the cold darkness of Portland's winter night, I suck in a breath. "It was my father. The gargoyle, the guardian… it was my father. His heart. His life given for this sword."
Ace doesn't understand and looks at me in confusion, but I stand still, staring at the blade, at my father's heart. His last gift to me.
Then I look up at Ace, a renewed strength settling into my bones. "Too many have sacrificed so that I can wage this war. It's time to win it."
We leave earth and return to a world of war. A world of conflict. A world of slavery. A world that needs us to save it.
Our forces meet on the river crossing, the sun muted in the sky. The enemy spills over the horizon, thousands of foes under Lucian's command. I do not see the creature, the beast of Darkness. I do not know if this is good or bad. Ace and Dean are somewhere, ordering their soldiers. I haven't seen them in a while, since we split up to better lead our battalions.
Our armies clash on the shallow water. Men fall over each other. Blood sprays into the air. A storm of screams and shouts thunders through the earth. I fly over the battle, past our enemy's front lines. To the hill overlooking the battlefield. Where I will find the opposing generals. Where I will find Lucian.
"The Midnight Star! The Midnight Star has come!" someone cries. A soldier below. Her battalion is the vampires. The ones fighting under Levi and Niam and Asher. A group of them turns and runs. Most stay behind. It matters little. Most of the enemy are Fae, mindless, driven by one purpose. To do as Lucian commands. To win.
I let rage fill me. Rage at what Lucian has done. He robs an entire race of their will and conscience, and now he throws away their lives.
I do not know if what we do is right. This battle. Our side is taking lives as much as theirs. But I know one thing.
When I kill Lucian, the fighting ends.
I grab tighter onto Yami's spikes. "It's time, boy. Now."
He roars and dives down behind the enemy lines. Blue flame erupts from his mouth. We don't target the soldiers. No. We target the earth behind them, creating a wall of fire, cutting Lucian off from his army.
Smoke fills the air. Clouds the sky. I throw my hand in front of my mouth, blocking the vile smog, but some still enters my throat, burning my lungs. I cough and command Yami to fly higher until we find clean air. Below, the battlefield is in chaos. Orange dust hovers over the shore, kicked up by the fighting. Water splashes on the river, red with blood. Blue fire burns beneath the hill. The armies—
Something flies past me.
What—
Again. Something black and sharp.
An arrow. A giant arrow.
I look down to where the commanders would be, and enhance my vision with an incantation. There. In the distance on the hill stand giant contraptions forged from black steel. Ballistae. They fire giant bolts into the air. At us.
"Dodge," I yell, as another one flies toward us.
Yami twirls through the sky, avoiding bolt after bolt.
"We need to get down there. Burn the siege weapons down."
Yami roars, diving at the ballistae. The bolts come faster. One flies above me. One just past my ear.
One—
Yami lurches to the side, flips upside down, and I lose my grip, falling through the sky. I crash down into the earth, onto grass, tumbling to a stop. My legs ache. My hands feel raw. I try to stand and manage. My chest hurts. Maybe a broken rib? If so, it doesn't slow me down much. I run forward searching for Yami. I hear him first. A great big moan. Pain. He's in pain.
Yami. I'm coming. I'm coming boy.
I climb over a hill, and then I see him, lying by the wall of fire, a giant ballista bolt stuck in his wing. Soldiers, one who found their way around the flames, prod at him with spears and swords. He is giant compared to them, like a tiger to mice, but though he snaps and claws at them, he doesn't reach. His movements are small, constrained. It's the bolt, it's hurting him to move. My dragon lies there, near defenseless as people cut at his scales, tear at his wings. I cry out. Feeling his pain as my own.